Railroad-crossing signal



Patented Get. 14, 1924.

UNITED, STATES 1,511,918 PATENT OFFICE;

- BENNIE E. SMITH, OF EDWARDS, MISSOURI.

1 RAILROAD-CROSSING SIGNAL.

Application filed February 14, v1924. Serial No. 692,757.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Bnnnrn B. SMITH, a

citizen of the United States, residing at Edwards, in the county ofBenton and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railroad-Crossing Signals, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings. 7

This invention relates to an improved signal for use in connection with the crossing at a railroad and one object of the invention is to provide a signal which is so constructed that when a train is approaching a crossing a bell may be sounded and a.

, semaphore arm swung vertically so that any.

one approaching a railroad will be warned of an approaching train by a visible signal and also by an audible signal.

Another object of the invention is to so construct this signal that the semaphore arm and the bell sounding striker may be both actuated from a shaft which is rotatably mounted and causedto rotate by an actuating lever mounted for engagement by the 1 wheels of a train.

Another object of the invention is to provide a drive shaft which is formed of sections connected by a spring so that when the wheels of a train engage the actuating lever to impart rotary movement to this drive weather so that they will not be injured by moisture or by snow or ice.

This invention is illustrated in the panying drawings, wherein Figure l is a perspective view showing the danger signal in position for use.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary View showing a portion of the signal partially in elevation and partially in section.

Figure 8 is a fragmentary view showing the train engaged portion of the signal partially in top plan and partially in section. Figure i is a view showing the train engaged portion of the signal in elevation. This improved signal is for use in giving a warning when a train is approaching ELCOOIII- a cross road and, therefore, at the cross road there has been provided a stand f ard or post 1. A semaphore armLEZ Iis pivotally connected with thi's post and one, end portion provided with a flag 3 upon which may be dis layed a suitable warning such as the word Stop. At itsother end the arm or lover 2 is provided with a weight 4: serving as acounterbalance weight-to per 'mit the arm to be easily-swung vertically;

This arm will be pivotally connected with the post 1 in. such a position that when it swings downwardly its flag carrying end portion will move transversely (across the road thereby permitting the flag to be readily seen by persons approaching I the raila road.

Upon the lower end portion of this post there has been provided a box or housing 5 having openings 6 and 7 provided in its top or upper wall. A pitman rod 8 is pivotally connected with the arm 2 and hasits lower end portion extending through the opening into the housing 5. A bell.9 is mounted upon the post, and is to be struck bya striker 10 which is pivotally mounted in a substantially vertical position and ex tends through the opening7. Whenthe striker is broughtinto engagement with the bell an audible warning will be given and at r I the same time the pitman 8 will be reciprocated vertically so thatswinging movement will be imparted to the semaphore arm and a visible warning given. p l v In order vto impart movement to the striker 10 and pitman 8 there has'been provided a driven shaft 11 which is rotatably mounted in a tubular casing 12 and has one end por tion extending into the housing 5. At its inner end the shaft 11 carries a headwhich is in the form of a disc 13. This disc 15 carries a. pitmanengaging pin' l4'and is further provided with strikerengaging pins 15. It. will be readily seen that as the drivenshaft 11 rotates the pins'15 will be brought into engagement with the lower end of the striker 10 so as to impart movement to this striker and cause thestriker to ring the bellfas the disc rotates. ,It will be further noted. that as thisdisc rotatesthe pitman will be moved vertically to impart the desired oscillating movement to" the semaphore arm. 1 I

The tubular casing 12 extends longitudinally of the track and is supported, as shown at 16, The driven shaft may be yieldably held in the raised position.

formed as a single length of rod or in any number of pieces suitably connected to turn as a single unit when the device is used in connection with a straight length of track. When the signal is to be used at a point where the track is curved the shaft 11 may have certain of its sections connected by a universal'joint positioned in a pocket 17 provided intermediate the length of the casing 12. As many of these universal joints maybe providedas necessary. At the opposite end of'the casing 12 from the housing 5 therehas been provided a gear housing 18 and the driven shaft 11 extends into this housingil8 and carries a bevel gear 19 which meshes with. a larger bevel gear 20 carried by the drive shaft 21. This drive shaft 21 extends from the housing 18' through a casing 22 and this drive shaft will be formed in two sections, the adjacent ends of which are, connected with a spring 23. It will, therefore, be seen that when the drive shaft is rotated the spring may serve as a shock absorber to prevent damage to any parts of the mechanism.

This drive shaft extends to a. point adjacent one of the rails of the track and 'in order to impartrOtary movement to the drive shaft there has been provided a longitudinally curvedactuating lever 2a which is pivotally connected with the: ear 25 of a base plate 26 secured upon the ties and dis posed longitudinally of the trackv A pawl 27 is pivotally connected with this clever 2% intermediate its length and is yieldabl-y held in an operative position by a spring 28 so thatthe pawl will be held in engagement with a ratchet wheel 29 secured to the end of the drive shaft. Therefore, as the lever moves up and down the pawl, by engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel, will intermittently impart rotary movement to the drive shaft It is desired to? prevent the spring from causing the outer end portion of thedrive shaft to have retrograde rotary movement and, therefore, there" has been provided a latch 30 which is pivotally connected with the base plate and yieldably held in engagement with the teeth of the ratchet wheel. In order to normally hold the lever 24 in an elevated position there has been provided a spring 31 which is positioned about a pin 32 pivotally connected with the lever 24 and extending through an opening in the base plate 26. The lower end of this spring engages the base plate and the upper end engages the lever 24; and, therefore, the lever will 1153B y properly adjusting the nut of the pin 32 the upward movement of the lever maybe controlled and this lever prevented from extending above the rail beyond a desired amount.

up, as shown, with the lever 2%Lextending longitudinally of the'tra'ck and the post 1 mounted near the cross road leading to the track. V hen a train approaches the road the wheels will pass over the lever 24; and as each wheel passes over this lever it will be moved downwardly against the action of the spring 81 and then moved upwardly after the wheel has passed over the lever. During the downward movement the pawl 27 will the ratchet 29 to impart rotary movement to the ratchet and drive shaft. The spring 23 will be wound certain extent by the initial rotation of the outer end )ortion of the shaft 22 and as the pawl 30 prevents the outer end portionof this shaft from being turned in a retrograde direction by the spring, thes prin'g.

must exert its turning movement upon the inner end portion of the shaft, Of cbuiise the entire shaft will to some extent be turned as a single unit when the lever moves downwardly but the outer end portion,

being connected with the spring, will cause 1 the spring to be wound and thereby permit the spring to absorb the force of the blowv delivered to the ratchet and prevent danger of breakage of the teethof the gears 1-9 and 20 or breakage of the pins 15 by excessive force. As each wheel passes over the le er additional rotary movement will be de livered'to the drive shaft and tlirougli'the gears 19 and 20 tothe'driven shaft. The

driven shaft will therefore be'rotate'd for as long as the wheels of the train are-pass ing over the lever and during this rotation of the driven shaft a striker will be operated to sound the bell and the semaphore arm, together with its warning nag 3', will be swung vertically to attract attention.

t will therefore be seen that there has been wherever necessary so that the various shafts may turn easily.

What is claimed is: 1

1. A railroad signal comprising a visible signal mounted for 'oscill'ating movement, an audible signal, a strikerfor theaudible signal, a driven shaft, a head carried by; driven shaft, pins extending from the' head for engaging the striker and imparting operative movement to the same when tli'e driven shaft is rotated, a pitman" 15 111 ex: tending from the head, a ipitman rod geosnected with the pivot pin and visible signal When this apparatus is in use it is set to impart oscillating movement to'the'same during rotation of the driven shaft, and

train actuated means for imparting rotary movement to the driven shaft. 7

2. A signal of the character described comprising a support, a semaphore arm pivotally connected with said support, a signal bell, a pivotally mounted striker for the signal bell, a driven shaft, a head carried by the driven shaft, abutments carried by the head for engaging the striker and imparting operative movement to the striker during rotation of the driven shaft, a pitman rod pivotally connected with the head and semaphore arm forimparting oscillating movement to the semaphore arm during rotation of the driven shaft, and train operated means for imparting rotary movement to the driven shaft.

8. A danger signal comprising warning means, operating means for the warning means including a rotatably mounted driven Shaft for extending longitudinally of a track, a drive shaft, means for transmitting rotary movement from the drive shaft to the driven shaft, the drive shaft being formed in sectionspositioned in end to end relation to each other, spring means con-v nected with the adjacent ends of the sections of the drive shaft, and train actuated means for imparting rotary movement to one of the portions of the drive shaft.

4:. A danger signal comprising warning means and actuating means for the warning means including arotatably mounted drive i i shaft formed in sections in end toend relation to each other, a coil spring positioned about the drive shaft and having its ends connected with the adjacent ends of the drive shaft sections, a ratchet wheel carried by one of the sections of the drive shaft, a support, a lever pivotally connected with the support and adapted to be moved downwardly by the wheels of-a train passing along a track, spring means yieldably hold ing the lever against downward movement,

a pawl 'pivotally connected with the lever and engaging the teeth of the ratchet wheel to impart rotary movement to the ratchet wheel and'driveshaft section carrying the same 'whenthe lever moves downwardly, and a latch engaging the pawl to prevent I retrograde rotation thereof by the springs.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature.

BENN IE R. SMITH. 

